


Misguided

by ThatMasterOnline



Category: Far Cry 4
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-08
Updated: 2018-02-06
Packaged: 2019-03-02 10:45:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,981
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13316469
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatMasterOnline/pseuds/ThatMasterOnline
Summary: Ajay successfully manages to convince Sabal to stop killing at Jalendu. What happens next?





	1. Misguided

“When you sided with Amita, you chose to turn against your religion, your country, your own people. Now you kneel before the Tarun Matara asking forgiveness? Hm? No. NO. Where was that forgiveness when you butchered your brothers and sisters? So I say to you today, you chose to slit your own throats, not me.”

“Sabal, wait!” Sabal turned, perhaps startled by the uncharacteristic sharpness in Ajay’s tone. That pause gave Ajay the chance he needed to speak.

“Sabal, listen. You’re the king of Kyrat now. You need to show the people what kind of King you’re going to be. Is this it? Is this the kind of King you’re going to be? The kind that kills anyone who opposes him? We had that kind of King before, with Pagan, and the people were unhappy. That’s why Mohan started the Golden Path, right? So the people could express themselves without being afraid for their lives? Look, I’ve disagreed with you on a bunch of things, and every time I came to you to learn more about what you wanted. Why? Because I wanted you to give me a reason to believe in you. You gave me a reason, every time. These people are the same as me. They disagree with you, but they don’t need to be killed, Sabal. All they need is a reason to believe in you. A reason to think that you’re better than Pagan, better than Amita. What if that reason…was that you spared their lives where Amita and Pagan would have killed them outright? Sabal, please...give the people a reason to believe in you.” There was a tense, heavy silence as Sabal stared at him. Even his soldiers had stopped killing, waiting to hear Sabal’s reaction. Finally Sabal clicked his tongue and sighed.

“...Let them go.” He shook his head.

“You have a lot of faith in the people, Ajay. Let’s hope it isn’t misguided.” He sighed again and stepped back, rubbing the stubble on his chin as his men stepped back from the remaining people. In truth, he was impressed. He’d never seen Ajay speak so passionately about anything. Ajay simply didn’t have the kind of personality to want to make waves. It was a good thing, too, because if that was how Ajay usually argued...Sabal would never get his way. He patted Ajay on the back, giving him a small smile to let him know it was alright, that he didn’t mind being questioned in front of his men, that there wouldn’t be any ill will between them because of this. Ajay visibly sighed, the relief tangible as his shoulders slumped like a weight had fallen off them. He caught Ajay's gaze and held it, long enough to see Ajay smile and nod before he too nodded and then left, turning away to tend to the Tarun Matara. Perhaps to apologize to her as well. Maybe he had been hasty, after all. He wasn’t making the best start as King, but with Ajay at his side, he was sure to improve.

Bhadra was quietly assuring him that it was alright, that the gods would forgive him for his misstep, when the gunshot rang out. Sabal had to get Bhadra to safety before anything, so he took her up the stairs and told her to hide in a corner on the top floor of the temple. By the time he came back down, whatever had happened was already over. The civilians he had just let go were quietly shuffling to a boat. It looked almost the same as when he’d left, except that Ajay was on the ground, bleeding from the head and crying out in pain. One of his men had bandages out and was quietly murmuring ‘here, let me see’, gently coaxing Ajay’s hands away from his injured head.

“What happened?” Sabal demanded, kneeling beside Ajay and shushing him quietly.

“One of the civilians attacked him,” the soldier said, “He threw a large rock at him, and then spit on him and called him a filthy hypocrite. When he tried to throw rocks at us too, well...we had to shoot him. It got out of control.” A hysterical laugh suddenly bubbled out of Ajay and it scared Sabal more than the pained moans, even more so because Ajay seemed incapable of stopping it. 

“That rock hit his head pretty hard. He probably has a concussion. Ajay, you should lie down…” Ajay was still laughing uncontrollably, and Sabal grit his teeth to keep the fear from showing on his face as he took the bandages and began wrapping Ajay’s head himself. A few long seconds later the laughter died as suddenly as it had started, and then he felt Ajay sway against him. He finished wrapping Ajay’s head and then gently lowered him to the ground, taking off his jacket and putting it under Ajay’s head as a makeshift pillow. Ajay's eyes were closed, and Sabal knew he had passed out.

“Get a boat over here so I can take Ajay to a doctor, and somebody get to the top of the temple, I told Bhadra to hide when I heard the gunshot.” His soldiers nodded and left, and a few minutes later Ajay was carefully carried into the boat, Sabal’s jacket placed under his head again. Sabal was especially careful as he drove the boat back. He wanted to hurry to get Ajay to a doctor, but he also didn’t want the boat’s bouncing over the waves to injure him further. 

Back on the mainland he put Ajay in the backseat of a nearby car, jacket still cushioning his head, and drove to the nearest clinic. 

“What happened?” The doctor asked, getting Ajay on a bed and finally putting a proper pillow under him.

“A civilian-” That’s when it hit him. A civilian, whose life Ajay had just gone to great pains to save, threw this rock at him. 

He ought to hunt them down and kill the lot of the lying, traitorous bastards.

“A civilian threw a rock at him.” Judging from the sudden frown that appeared on the doctor’s face, Sabal wasn’t the only one who didn’t approve of that development. “I wasn’t there, but I’m told the rock was quite large.” 

“If it made this kind of wound, it must have needed two hands to lift. Has he been unconscious the whole time?”

“No, he was awake when I arrived a minute or so later. I wrapped his head and...he was hysterical for a short while.”

“Hysterical how?”

“Laughing uncontrollably.” The doctor shot him a look that didn’t bode well for Ajay’s condition, then went back to inspecting the head wound.

“Well...it’s not as bad as it could have been. Thank god your civilian had bad aim. I’ll feel a lot better about his condition when he wakes up, but I don’t think that will be happening for a while.” The doctor sighed, turning on the radio to a soft volume before leaving to tend to his other patients. Sabal sighed when he heard Rabi's voice, more proof of the good work Ajay had done in Kyrat. Nobody else had been able to manage those climbs, but Ajay had done it, and now Rabi Ray was the only voice to be heard on the radio. Rabi Ray had supported Amita, mostly because he thought she was pretty, but Rabi was doing a remarkable job of keeping up with current news, despite never being seen. Sabal sighed again and tried to listen to what Rabi was saying.

“This is Rabi Ray Rana and you’re listening to Radio Free Kyrat. Now guys, I’m fucking pissed. Like, it’s not often I get super pissed off, but guys, I’m super pissed off right now, okay? I need to talk about this, and it's gonna be a really long talk so be prepared. So let’s talk about this. Okay, so Sabal, at Jalendu Temple, had all of Amita's supporters lined up and he was going to kill them. And to be clear, that’s not what I’m pissed about guys. Like that's super shitty, killing people just because they sided with Amita, but Ajay came in and saved the day, so it’s okay. Right, so Sabal’s going to kill these people, and then Ajay comes in, and he puts a stop to it like ‘Sabal. What the fuck, bro? The war’s over, like, stop killing people, okay? Enough is enough.’ And Sabal agrees, and that’s why I’m not so pissed about Sabal going to kill people. Because Ajay convinced him not to. Do you think Pagan Min would have listened to Ajay? No. Do you think Amita would have listened to Ajay? Again, probably not. I mean, have you met Amita? Because I have, and let me tell you guys, when she gets something in her head, she never lets it go. So like, if Amita got it in her head to kill Sabal’s followers, nobody was stopping her, okay? But Sabal, he listened. He was like ‘okay. I’m man enough to admit I might be wrong on this one’ and you know what? Like, I wasn’t a huge fan of Sabal, but maybe he’s not so bad. Like, if Ajay can convince him not to kill people then maybe Kyrat is in good hands. We all know Ajay’s like, the number one nice guy here in Kyrat, so if Sabal listens to him we’re golden.” Sabal couldn't help but chuckle. Dammit, Ajay had been right. Rabi Ray had been against him from day one, yet here he was, saying maybe he wasn’t so bad. Just like Ajay had said, they just needed a reason to believe in him. 

“So Sabal stopped killing people at Jalendu, and all is right in the world, right? WRONG, okay, and here’s what I’m pissed about. Sabal is going to kill people, Ajay swoops in and saves the day, and then you turn you turn your back for five seconds and BAM. One of the guys, one of the people that Ajay JUST finished convincing Sabal NOT to kill, turned around and hit Ajay over the head with a rock. I mean, WHAT? Ajay Ghale, guys, Ajay Ghale. He hit AJAY. GHALE. Like, I know Sabal likes to go on about Ajay Ghale because he’s the son of Mohan and all that, and that’s another reason hitting Ajay is so shitty, but also have you met Ajay? He is the nicest guy here in Kyrat. I’ve met him, and not only is he super hot, he is just a genuinely nice guy. Like, if you need help, call Ajay Ghale and he'll come save you. And that’s the guy who is now lying in a bed right now with a giant fucking head wound. Ajay doesn't deserve that, man. And like, dude, he just saved your life! Like, not only is it impossible to hate a guy like Ajay, he just saved your LIFE. Like, he goes out of his way to convince Sabal not to kill you and this is how you repay him? What? Like you need to be thanking Ajay, you need to get down on your knees and suck his dick because you are ALIVE because of him. And what does this guy do? He hits Ajay with a rock. Somebody threw a rock a De Pleur, are you saying Ajay’s the same as De Pleur because he’s not and anyone who says otherwise can come on down here and fight me. And guys, let’s talk about Sabal right now. Sabal must be PISSED. Like, just imagine it, okay? You’ve got all these people lined up, all of Amita’s followers you’re going to kill and then Ajay’s like ‘Sabal. They’re nice people, they don’t deserve to die. Let them go.’ So you think yeah, maybe he’s right, and you let them go. And then you turn your back and the next thing you know Ajay’s out of commission because of one of those guys Ajay just stuck his neck out for. Like if it was me, I'd be rounding up all those guys and fucking killing them, like if this is how you’re gonna repay Ajay for saving your life then fine, go ahead and die then. Not to mention Sabal’s probably gay for Ajay. Have you seen them talk? Sabal calls Ajay brother all the time, and he doesn't do that with anyone else. Also, Ajay is apparently the only person who can convince Sabal not to kill people, and that has to mean something. How much do you have to love someone to not kill like, your worst enemy, just because that person asked? Like, if Sabal’s in a bad mood, bam, bad mood gone the second Ajay walks in the room. I’m telling you, Sabal is gay for Ajay, and if Ajay’s gay for Sabal, I am telling you, Kyrat is in GOOD hands. Like, Sabal’s a good ruler, he just needs a moral compass, and if Ajay’s gonna be that moral compass maybe this is really gonna be the end of the violence. And maybe the end of the Arena too, because like, let’s be honest, we’ve all gone to the arena, but come on, it’s really sick to go to the arena and cheer for tigers to maul someone to death. Noore’s gone now, and with Ajay acting as Sabal’s moral compass, maybe we can find a healthier form of entertainment, like books. If they wrote a book about Ajay, I could get into that. Also, I’ve heard that the shopkeepers are all into writing like, really saucy things. Look, all I’m saying is that you can deny it all you want, but you guys would be super into a book where Ajay and Sabal get it on. Don’t lie to me, I know you would be. Maybe saucy porn books are the future of entertainment here in Kyrat, I don’t know. Okay guys, that’s it, rant over. Oh, before we get back to the tunes, I want you all to know that Ajay is okay. Like, he has a really bad concussion, and he’s gonna be out of it for a while and probably pretty loopy, but he’s gonna pull through, so don’t worry. Ajay’s okay, guys, Sabal hasn’t lost his moral compass. Okay, now we’re done. Back to the tunes.” Sabal sighed. Rabi was unusually perceptive behind all that silliness. And how did he know that Ajay would be alright? Sabal had just learned that a moment ago! Sighing again, Sabal leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. Just as the doctor had said, there was nothing to do but wait for Ajay to wake up.

***

“...mm…” Sabal blinked, sitting up a little in his chair. He thought he had heard…

“Mm…” He had heard. He sat upright, leaning forward.

“Ajay? Ajay, are you awake?”

“Mm…?” 

“Doctor? Doctor, I think he's waking up.”

“About time, too.” The doctor bustled in with a flashlight just as Ajay's eyes started to flutter open.

“Ajay? Ajay Ghale, my name is Aadesh, I’m a doctor. How many fingers am I holding up?”

 

“...Three…?”

“And now?”

“...Four…”

“Good. Look here.” He held up a finger and shone the flashlight into Ajay’s left eye, and then the right.

“Pupil dilation is normal, that’s a good sign. He should pull through just fine. How do you feel?”

“My head is killing me…”

“That’s to be expected. Rest here, until your pain is entirely gone, and make a note in your calendar. I expect you to start walking into walls about six months from now. Do you want some morphine for the pain?” Ajay nodded, and the doctor patted his shoulder and left momentarily, returning with a syringe which he pressed into Ajay’s arm after rolling up his sleeve.

“Expect him to be a little loopy as the morphine takes effect.” The doctor patted Sabal and then left.

“Sabal...where am I…?”

“A clinic just north of Jalendu. You’ve been unconscious for...a few hours at least.”

“Oh…” Ajay fell silent, looking away.

“Sabal...why am I a hypocrite?” Sabal sighed.

“I don’t know, Ajay. Did you recognize him?”

“No…”

“...Then I am afraid we may never know, but Ajay...I doubt very much that you have done anything that would warrant that kind of attack. You’re going to be in bed for weeks, the doctor says you’ll start walking into walls, and you had just saved his life. Rabi’s already said you didn’t deserve that.” Ajay smiled.

“Glad to know he’s on my side. Did he say anything else?” Sabal chuckled.

“That I’m gay for you and that with you at my side we’ll dismantle the arena and make saucy porn novels the future of entertainment in Kyrat.” Ajay chuckled, wincing as that hurt his head.

“Are you gay for me?” Sabal smiled.

“I’m not going to lie, back at Jalendu...I was a little gay for the way you argue, and at the same time I thanked Kyra you don't argue much. You can be very, very convincing when you want to be.”

“I’m just glad it worked,” Ajay said with a smile, “I was so worried you were going to just blow me off and keep killing, and I don’t know what I would have done then.” Sabal smiled.

“Ajay, I could never blow you off, you know that.” Judging from the sudden silence and the way Ajay averted his eyes, he didn’t know that, and Sabal put his hand on Ajay’s shoulder.

“What did I do? When did I make you doubt yourself, doubt how much you mean to me?” 

“...At the car.”

“Car? What car?” He didn’t even remember. Ajay pulled the blankets up, closing his eyes.

“Never mind…”

“Ajay, please. If I’ve hurt you without realizing it, I want to know.”

“...You...were so cold…the way you spoke to me...made me feel like an idiot for thinking you wanted me at your side for something…And then you...that golden path guy just shoved past me and got into the car, and you didn’t do anything...and the only reason you stopped him slamming the door in my face was because you weren’t done lecturing me yet…” Sabal blinked. He remembered that conversation so differently, to think that Ajay had interpreted it as being dismissed, called an idiot…

“I was...grieving…” Sabal said quietly, “I hid it behind a mask of anger, but it hurt me to ask you to kill Amita. She needed to be stopped, yes, but I had hoped it wouldn’t have to come to that. Once it had...I made myself hard. You’re so kind, Ajay, I knew if I showed any weakness you might have let Amita escape. I...clearly I overcompensated. You thought my anger was directed towards you.”

“I thought you didn’t give a shit what I thought now that I’d put you in power. You had what you wanted, and that meant I was useless to you, just another puppet on a string that was in too deep to waver, one you didn’t have to bother pretending to be nice to anymore. The way you said...the way you looked at me and ‘what do you think you’re doing? This isn’t your ride.’ And then ‘do what needs to be done, brother.’ You sounded so scathing, so furious, so...dismissive. Pagan had been telling me the whole time I was just a hired gun to you, and...it felt like...suddenly I realized he’d been right all along. It...hurt. It hurt like a knife through my chest.” Sabal sighed. To think that one conversation could have shifted what Ajay thought Sabal thought of him so much…

“You are my everything, Ajay. The son of Mohan could never-”

“Stop.” Sabal froze, the sudden anger in Ajay’s tone something he’d never heard from him before, ever.

“I don’t want to be called son of Mohan anymore. Mohan was an asshole, and it’s time to stop pretending otherwise.” Sabal nodded. He’d ask where this sudden hostility towards Mohan had come from when Ajay wasn’t already worked up thinking about how Sabal had dismissed him.

“Okay. Ajay it is, from now on. No more son of Mohan.” Ajay sighed and nodded.

“Thanks.”

“Don’t thank me, Ajay. I hardly deserve any kind of thanks, after the way what I said made you feel. Even worse that I had no idea...I don’t know why you stayed with me, after that.”

“Because I remembered Durgesh, and the way you stayed at my bedside for three days waiting for me to wake up, and I hoped I could find that Sabal again. I guess I was right, you were in there somewhere.”

“I never left, but you didn’t know that.” He sighed. “The Sabal you met that day at the car is officially dead. He’s never coming back.”

“...Good. Good.” The conversation seemed to have ended, so Sabal patted his shoulder.

“You should rest now, Ajay.” Ajay sighed, lying back down.

“Sure. Do you have...things to do? You shouldn’t stay here while I’m resting…”

“I shouldn’t, but I will. You need me. You need a reason to believe in me again, and I’m going to give it to you, right now, and however long it takes for you to heal. You need me more than the people need me.” Ajay smiled, and then he closed his eyes, curling up under the blankets and letting himself fall asleep.


	2. Mangsir 1989

“He...was shot? He died?”

“When he turned on the Golden Path soldiers, yes. He was...irrational. One of the soldiers got anxious and shot him. I’ve already given him a lecture on not always using deadly force from now on.”

“You left?”

“No, I radioed him while you were asleep.”

“Oh, okay. ...Who was he? The guy who died?”

“His name was Hakim.”

“Oh...Okay. And no more deadly force?”

“It might take time, but yes, we won’t have to use deadly force, not on our allies.” Ajay sighed, putting his head in his hands.

“Are you alright?”

“Fine, just...my head hurts a little.”

“Rest a little more, we can talk more about this when you’ve healed.”

***

Ajay set about liberating all the outposts when he was healed. He didn’t necessarily have to, but adjusting to peace was taking some time. He’d gotten so used to fighting that he was putting off the time when he’d have to hang up his gun permanently. There was one major exception, though. Anyone who surrendered was not killed. Ajay had had a few try to deceive him, but after the incident at Jalendu (which he would never admit to being absolutely pissed about, not in front of Sabal, whom he’d had to convince not to go back and kill the civilians on multiple occasions) he was ready for it. 

He picked up a few more of his father’s journals as well, and decided that a good transition would be collecting those. Eventually, he knew he’d collected all except one, a particularly hidden one, apparently. He finally found it at the bottom of a lake, of all things, but when he read it he disappeared and wasn’t heard of for weeks, save for a curt ‘leave me alone’ when Sabal called.

It took Sabal about three weeks of silence to become concerned enough that he disrespected Ajay’s request for solitude and stepped into Mohan’s house. It was in disrepair; layers of dust, nothing had been touched or cooked in ages, and Sabal noticed curiously fist-sized bends in the wall and bloodstains that were cause for concern. Sabal went upstairs to the loft where Ajay usually slept and found it as bare as the rest of the house. There was, however, a note:

Sabal,

I know you’ll come here eventually. I specifically asked to be left alone, but I know you’ll come anyways. I know your heart is in the right place, so I left this note to let you know that I’m fine. I’m still in the country, but I’m not here. I’ll never enter this house again. As a matter of fact, burn the place down while you’re here. Whether you do or don’t doesn’t matter; I’ll never come close enough to find out. I’ll find you when I’m ready.

I’m safe. I’m still in the country. Stop trying to look for me.

— Ajay

Sabal sighed, sitting on the bed. At least he was still here. And safe, too, though this letter had been written a couple weeks ago and any number of animal attacks could have happened in that time. Ajay was strong, though. An animal attack would never kill him. Still…

Sabal waited, although not patiently. He paced and sat and paced and sat and tapped his foot and slept restlessly and stopped eating…

A month of agony later Sabal wandered into a safe house at a remote outpost to find Ajay on the bed...sulking, for lack of a better word. But at least he was alive.

“Ajay…” The sigh of relief was audible in his call, and Ajay turned to offer Sabal a brief smile.

“Still alive and kicking,” he said, then sighed and resumed staring moodily at the ceiling. 

“Ajay…”

“No, I don’t want to talk about it. I’ll be here if you want to talk about anything else, though. I’m back...I guess.”

“Where were you?”

“Here, there, anywhere...Belltowers, mostly. A lot of them had beds up high away from animals, as well as some rations. Did you get my note?”

“Note?” Ajay glanced at Sabal, then smiled.

“...You’re a terrible liar. I’m glad you were worried about me, but…” Ajay shook his head, his mouth curved into something of a snarl, and he turned away from Sabal. Sabal knew that was the end of their conversation, and he still had no way of knowing why Ajay had left or what was bothering him. But he couldn’t leave, not quite yet.

“...Was it me? Jalendu?” 

“It...It’s not you. You’re not at fault here, Mohan is.” Ajay huffed, seemingly annoyed that he’d given away too much, then rolled over to face away from Sabal again, covering his head with the blankets for good measure. Sabal sighed, patted Ajay’s shoulder, and then left. Clearly Ajay wasn’t in a talkative mood, even if it was about something else.

When Sabal checked in on Ajay the next day, he was sitting on the bed, staring almost longingly at an empty bottle of beer. Sabal day next to him and pulled him down so his head was laying on Sabal’s chest. Ajay only sighed and relaxed, closing his eyes.

“Turns out I was wrong,” he said at length, his voice growing more disgusted with every word, “I don’t know jack shit about what Mohan would have wanted. Sorry, Sabal, I spoke too soon. Go ahead and round up Amita’s supporters, cut their throats in front of the whole damn country. It is, in fact, what Mohan would have wanted.” Sabal waited in silence, and Ajay pulled a piece of paper from his bag nearby.

“Mangsir 1989,” he read, his voice dripping venom, “I have learned that Pagan Min has secretly met with senior members of the Golden Path to discuss the terms of our surrender. These are people I have fought alongside for years. They tell me Pagan promises us peace if we lay down our arms. Pagan lies. Anyone who met with Pagan is a traitor and they must be dealt with. It was a difficult decision and history will judge me harshly, but I had these traitors executed this morning. Kyra forgive me.” Ajay scoffed.

“Kyra forgive me,” he spat, “Because that makes EVERYTHING better. You do the same thing, you know that? Put all of your actions on Kyra and don’t take the blame for anything. Here’s a thought: if you know you’ll have to ask Kyra for forgiveness after you do something, then DON’T FUCKING DO IT.” Ajay scoffed again, looking away, and Sabal took the journal from his hands. Ajay was only too happy to let it go.

“Some members of the Golden Path wanted to surrender to Pagan Min,” Sabal said as neutrally as possible, as though he were just paraphrasing. In truth, he was somewhat on Mohan’s side about this. Pagan had deceived the royalists and wrongly seized the throne. Surrender meant acknowledging Pagan’s claim to the throne, and that could never happen. Mohan would have never allowed it. Execution...well, it wasn’t entirely out of the question, except that Ajay refused to accept the actions as right. Sabal might have done the same thing...actually, he did, with Amita's supporters. Thank Kyra he let himself be convinced to stop, or Ajay could be this angry at him right now.

“Is this why you were so angry before? When you said you never wanted to be called son of Mohan?” The deadly silence that followed sent a chill down Sabal’s spine, and for the first time in his life he backpedaled.

“Nevermind, forget I asked-”

“Lakshmana.”

“...The shrine you laid your mother to rest at?”

“She was mom and Pagan’s child. Mohan found out mom had slept with Pagan and decided the appropriate course of action was to murder a year-old baby. I used Mohan to stop you killing those people because I assumed Mohan had some shreds of a conscience and might have cared about his own soldiers, but I personally disowned him when I learned about Lakshmana. Now...the next person to speak his name in my presence gets a bullet to the head.” Sabal nodded, finally having the good sense to shut the hell up.

“I’m glad you’re back, at least,” he said, “I was worried about you.” He wasn’t terribly surprised when Ajay’s only response was ‘Yeah, whatever.”


End file.
